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West Coast Eagles coach Adam Simpson confirms Alex Witherden to make club debut as Shannon Hurn replacement

Headshot of Craig O'Donoghue
Craig O'DonoghueThe West Australian
VideoEagles veteran Shannon Hurn will miss at least two weeks due to a calf injury

West Coast recruit Alex Witherden will play his first game in the blue and gold tomorrow night after being chosen to replace injured veteran Shannon Hurn in defence.

Witherden joined the Eagles in exchange for a package of late selections last year after falling out of favour at Brisbane.

The 22-year-old played only six games last season after playing 44 in the previous two years. He was overlooked for the opening rounds but impressive WAFL performances have given him an opportunity to play against Collingwood tomorrow night.

“He’ll come in,” Simpson said.

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“He’s 22. He had a different role at Brisbane and has to work out what our way is. But essentially he’s a good footballer and he’s got a good footy brain.

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“He uses the ball pretty well so we see him, over time, really fitting in with what we do.

“Shannon going out of the side, Alex is a really good replacement.”

Hurn’s unavailability as he recovers from a calf injury also robs the Eagles of their preferred player to kick the ball in after a behind.

Hurn kicked the ball in from 75 per cent of behinds during the first three rounds but the duties mainly fell to Jeremy McGovern after he left the field against St Kilda.

Simpson said Witherden would also fill that role.

“I think Witho will take his fair share of kick ins and Gov will as well,” Simpson said.

“It’s hard to replace what Shannon Hurn does. We did get stuck in our back half through kicks ins at stages last week. We’re working on that this week.”

The Eagles were comprehensively beaten in the midfield last week and Simpson admitted the match committee had a big challenge when selecting the right balance of onballers.

Alex Witherden will make his Eagles debut against Collingwood.
Camera IconAlex Witherden will make his Eagles debut against Collingwood. Credit: Jackson Flindell/The West Australian

When Luke Shuey and Elliot Yeo are fit, the Eagles have seven experienced midfielders. But last week they had only Tim Kelly, Andrew Gaff, Dom Sheed, Jack Redden and Liam Duggan from their main midfield group and then moved Jarrod Brander onto the wing.

Simpson said he’d have to ask the experienced midfielders to do more instead of looking to change the overall structure of the team by selecting younger midfielders from the WAFL.

“Xavier O’Neill has played five games, Brander has probably played 12, Ainsworth maybe a bit more. We’re working through what the best mix is at the moment,” Simpson explained.

“I’d be leaning towards our leaders and our experienced midfielders standing up and playing their role and the other guys complimenting that.

“Over the years we have played the exact same number of mids as we did on the weekend but it just looked a bit different didn’t it?

“Brander was a permanent wing and bona fide midfielder plus our onball division. We’ve managed things a little bit different going into this season, thinking with a full complement we’ll have to fit the mids in in a different way.

“We tried to wind the clock back on the weekend and it worked pretty well for two and a half quarters but we were found wanting across the midfield – not through a lack of personnel. I thought we just got outworked.”

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